A Winter Full of Sand
by phantom music
Summary: It's almost her birthday, but being kidnapped wasn't the present she had in mind.
1. Being Kidnapped

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto…**

**Please review!!**

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Ninjas from the Land of Clouds had been planning it for so very long. Now it was time to put it into action, a month prior to lady Hinata's sixth birthday. A celebration was being held in her honor, and a dress was to be made for the occasion.

The dressmaker, named Mae, came to the Hyuuga household on the day the plan was to be carried out to see if the dress fit properly. She had Hinata try it on, and then walked around her once as Hinata's father watched. Mae frowned.

"It's a little bit too long..." she informed him. "I can hem it now if you want. It will only take about an hour."

The respected Hyuuga nodded in approval. Seeing that Mae looked uncomfortable being watched while she re-measured Hinata's height, he left the room. After she was sure he was a ways off, the dressmaker got up to close the door.

After she had shut it, Mae hesitated, unable to look at the innocent face just yet. Hinata seemed to be a sweet, although shy, child, and it made her feel a little regret for what she was about to do. However, it was her job, and it had to be done.

She walked away from the door towards Hinata and bent down in front of her, pulling out a syringe as she did. Before the young girl could react, a needle was slipped into her arm, and a sleeping drug flowed into her veins.

Hinata's eyes opened, then quickly shut again when she saw Mae's back. She was talking to another ninja that Hinata had not been able to see in the short seconds that her eyes had been open.

"Mae..." the other ninja (a man in his 20's, from his voice) began, "your assignment explicitly stated that you were not to become attached to the child."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm not attached to her; I just don't see the point in hurting her," Mae replied.

The man sighed. "We have to cut off a finger to send to the Hyuuga's as proof that we have her. You knew this when you took the assignment."

"Couldn't we at least numb her hand?"

There was a pause as the young man considered Mae's suggestion. Finally he sighed again. "I suppose Yoku-sama wouldn't disapprove... as long as it was you who cut her finger off..."

Mae nodded. She didn't want to have to be the one to do it, but at least lady Hinata would be free of pain for a while.

"I'll go get some food for us. If we continue right after we eat, we should be able to get to the others around mid-afternoon. Are you going to cut off the kid's finger now or when we get to the house?"

"Now... maybe it won't hurt so much when she wakes up."

"Then why bother numbing her hand?"

"Well, even though she's unconscious, she might still be able to experience pain..."

"All right... just don't lose the finger," the man said, and then walked off into the trees that surrounded them.

Mae glanced at the young girl, who was shaking in fear. She frowned slightly and walked over to Hinata. She bent down, and then opened the bag that was lying next to her. From it she got a coat, whose sleeves she carefully put Hinata's arms into.

Hinata, thinking that her finger was going to be sliced off, fainted the second Mae touched her. She recovered shortly after the coat was on her and Mae, satisfied that Hinata wasn't shivering anymore, had stood up to go to a different bag a few yards away.

The Cloud ninja rummaged through the sack, looking for the syringe that she had put in there after using it to knock out the young Hyuuga. Finally she found it and filled it halfway with the painkiller. In a smaller pocket were the needles that attached to the syringe. Done assembling her weapon, Mae turned around to see-nothing. Her hostage was gone.

Hinata tore through the forest as fast as she could, tears streaming down her face from fear. Soon the trees thinned and gave way to a town. She ran through the streets, people looking at her with curiosity in their eyes. Finally she could run no longer. Her sides burning, she collapsed to her knees in a playground.

It was completely empty, except for one swing which was occupied by a small boy with red hair and dark circles around his eyes...

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**Sorry for any confusion about the fact that Hinata was kidnapped by ninjas from the Land of Clouds and yet is in Suna. There is a reason for this, but it might not be explained until the third chapter...**


	2. Meeting People

**I still don't own Naruto.**

**Please review!!!**

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Gaara looked at the girl cautiously. What if she ran away like everyone else did? But... Maybe if he was nice she would see that he wasn't scary, and maybe, just maybe, she'd even be his friend. With renewed hope, Gaara walked towards her.

Now right next to her, he extended his hand.

The girl, noticing the presence of another, looked up with fear in her eyes.

"Are you...okay?" He asked her with a small smile, still determined to be nice in spite of the terror she had of him.

She backed away from him with a whimper.

Gaara's smile crumpled and his hand fell to his side in defeat. She hated him. Just like everyone else. And now she was going to run. They all did.

But she stayed where she was, still scared, but not running.

Someone in the distance yelled indistinctly.

Her head whipped around to the direction of the voice, then back to Gaara. It was like she was trying to see inside him, to know if she could trust him or not.

The girl stood hesitantly, and then opened her mouth as though she was going to say something, but quickly shut it again.

Gaara wondered if he should ask her to swing, but she was wearing such a pretty dress, despite the fact that it had dirt on it... swinging could rip it. Then he realized how hungry he was. Maybe this girl hadn't had lunch either.

"Do you want to eat with me?" He asked her, hardly daring to hope that she would.

She nodded.

His smile reappeared. "What's your name?"

"Hinata..." she replied in a barely audible voice.

He started off in the direction of his house, and she followed him, looking at the ground.

After walking a few streets without talking, Hinata spoke. "...What's your name...?"

This came as a shock to Gaara, who had been assuming that she knew who he was. "I'm Gaara..."

There was another stretch of silence as he wondered what she had been so scared of, and as she tried to get the courage to ask another question.

Finally she did. "What, um, village is this...?"

"This is Sunagakure," Gaara told her, confused.

At this point they had reached his house so he opened the door and they went in. Yashamaru was in the kitchen, but at the sound of the door he came out to greet his nephew.

A look of surprise crossed his face when he saw the girl, but he quickly exchanged it for a smile. "Who might you be?" he asked her.

"Her name's Hinata and she's eating lunch with us!!" Gaara replied for her, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice.

"It's nice to meet you," his uncle addressed Hinata.

She bowed politely, but still didn't look up.

"Our dining room is this way," he said kindly to the young girl.

Reassured by his tone of voice, she managed a small "Thank you," as she followed him.

"Lord Gaara, why don't you help me get the food," Yashamaru suggested after their guest was seated.

In the kitchen, Gaara started talking. "Yashamaru, she didn't know who I was! She even asked me what village we were in!"

A small frown crossed his uncle's face as he considered this. He spooned rice into three bowls and handed one to Gaara.

Hinata glanced up as they entered, and the older man was able to see that she had been crying recently. "Hinata, where are you from?" he questioned.

She didn't reply immediately. The question seemed to scare her. Her eyes searched his face, trying to see if she could trust the motives behind the question. Finally she answered, "Ko- Konohagakure..."

"Really? Is your family here on business? Are you lost?"

She wasn't sure what to say. He was smiling, and he looked so nice. But so had Mae. What if he was working with her? She stared intently at her rice bowl, her hands clenching the bottom of her chair. What if he tried to cut off her finger too?

Yashamaru saw her unease and said, "We could help you find them."

Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes again. "I... I was kidnapped..." she told him quietly.

Gaara's eyes widened. "Kidnapped? Yashamaru, can she stay with us?"

His uncle considered this. "Maybe that would be best, at least until the people that tried to kidnap Hinata are caught... Is that all right with you?"

She looked at Gaara. His face was hopeful, almost desperate that she wouldn't say no.

Even though tears still threatened to pour down her face any moment, she felt herself smiling a little bit. "Okay"


	3. Where Mae is

**I still don't own Naruto, or any characters. As always, reviews are welcome.**

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Mae pondered over a scroll, trying her hardest to memorize the constellations that it showed.

A shadow fell across the stars' drawings, and she looked up into her younger brother's face.

"Come play tag with us, oneesan!!"

She sighed. There was going to be a quiz on this information tomorrow. How could she afford to spend time with a bunch of little kids? But... it was such a nice spring day, and she hadn't spent a lot of time with Hiroku lately...

"Please?" He begged.

Mae glanced back down at the scroll, and then rolled it up. It could wait.

A grin broke across Hiroku's face as she got up. "You're it!!" He yelled and darted away.

She laughed and ran after her brother's nearest friend.

To be from schoolwork, from all thought, and just running, was pure bliss.

She smiled as she watched one of the kids scream in mock fear and run from the person she had just tagged, but her joy quickly exchanged itself for confusion.

Maybe she had imagined it. But, no, there it was again... footsteps. They echoed, drowning out all other noises.

The air became cold and she realized that she was shivering.

A hand grabbed Mae roughly, pulling her to a standing position.

"Have a nice dream?" A voice sneered at her.

She groaned, trying to stay in the park.

The hand shook her, forcing her to open her eyes and face reality.

She was being pulled out of her cell by the guard that had woken her up. She knew where they going.

The person who took her there changed, but never the place. She had been dragged there every day for... how long had she been here? It felt like years, but she knew that it couldn't have been a month yet.

The door opened.

The guard took out the gag in her mouth that stopped her from biting her tongue off.

She heard the dull thud of the door as it closed, trapping her inside.

A new voice now, a colder one.

"Where is Hinata?"

Always the same question.

She didn't reply.

When she first came here, she told the truth. She hadn't helped Lady Hinata escape. She had no idea where she was right now.

But it hadn't mattered. No matter what she said, they would believe what they wanted.

" Bachi is in pain... but it could stop if you just told us where she was... Is a little girl really more important than your friend...?"

This was not new either, but it never failed to put tears in her eyes. It was cruel that he was being punished as well. All he had done was leave her by herself when she was supposed to get Hinata's finger.

Lady Hinata... even though it was her fault that she was being put through this torture, she could not help but pity her. All alone, in freezing weather.

No one would be looking for her in Sunagakure. That was the reason they had taken her here in the first place, and Mae had no doubt that it would become her grave.

"Where is Hinata?" Yoku hissed at her again.

She shook her head slowly.

"You won't tell? Very well, we shall see how well you do with half the amount of food you are given now." Her boss turned from her, gesturing for the guard to remove her from his presence.

Back to the cold, uncaring cell. She stared up at the ceiling bleakly, knowing that if she shut her eyes now, she would just be woken again in a few minutes.

If only death would hurry up and find her.


	4. A While Later

Hinata bent down, scooping up a handful of snow. She carefully rounded it, hidden behind a tree. Once she deemed her masterpiece perfect, she twisted away from the dead bark, hurling the snow at the man.

Yashamaru stumbled backward, bits of the frozen water clinging to his hair. He laughed good-naturedly, then sent a snowball back as his reply.

Gaara smiled a little from his position inside, where he watched the war between his uncle and best friend. A bitter knot twisted inside his stomach, but he ignored it. The important thing was that Hinata was happy. It didn't matter that he couldn't be out there, could never be hit by a snowball...

Hinata saw Gaara's face in the window. His mouth was smiling, but she could see the sadness behind his eyes. From the day that his home had become hers, when she had accidentally dropped her rice bowl above his foot, she had known about his... oddness.

Yashamaru recognized the expression the girl wore. It was apparent that she couldn't bear the pain she was causing Gaara. He sighed, then made himself look cheerful. "Why don't we go inside?" he suggested, aware that the Hyuuga would never dare to ask him that question.

She nodded, grateful beyond words. They went back to the house, Hinata entering after her elder as a sign of respect.

"You looked like you were having fun. Why did you come in?" Gaara questioned the minute the door shut. Sometimes it seemed like she could read his thoughts- what if she hadn't wanted to come inside, but did so just to be nice?

His uncle answered for her. "It was getting cold."

The young boy continued to stare worriedly at his new friend until she reassured him with a smile and a nod.

Three weeks ago she had come here. During the first few days, Yashamaru had told the children what was happening- how worried the Hyuugas were, how the Land of Cloud denied everything, how no one knew or would talk about the group that had committed this crime, how no one fitting the description of Mae had been found- but it only made Hinata cry at night, so he stopped.

Eventually she accepted, even began to enjoy, her situation. There was no rigid schedule to follow, no rules being constantly enforced.

She did, however, continue the training that she had begun at home. But now she had a friend to practice with, and, a couple of hours later on this day three weeks into Hinata's stay, her and Gaara were out by an abandoned building they had discovered in the woods.

After trying and finally succeeding at blocking snowballs, she decided to work on her inherited trait. "Byakugan!" Her vision halted at the edge of the building, intimidated by the formidableness of the wall, then broke through it. A frown crossed her face.

"What's wrong?" the red-head asked her.

"There's...light..."

Down a hallway where a couple of guards lingered. Through the door they stood in front of. Another guard, kicking a young woman in the side. Her bloodshot eyes opened slowly, as though they were weighted.

Hinata gasped, tears gathering at the edges of her eyes, spilling over.

"Hinata!" Gaara wrapped his arms around her, supporting her so she wouldn't fall.

"Mae-" she choked.

Even after threatening to cut her finger off, the 5 year old couldn't consider the possibility of leaving Mae in there. After all, Mae had tried to save her from pain.

"We have to rescue her." She had looked so thin and underfed.

"Okay." Gaara sounded braver than he felt. He didn't want to help someone he had never met, had only heard of as being a kidnapper, but if she had been nice to Hinata in any way...

He cautiously released her. She was trembling, but stood on her own.

"We can go get Yashama-"

Their feet were lifted out of the snow as a large man grabbed them. Holding one child under each arm, both too surprised and scared to fight back, he determinedly made his way back to the building.

"What's that you've got there?" a sentry questioned as he went through the door.

"Couple of kids. Seems they know Mae. Couldn't risk them telling anyone." He threw them roughly to the floor. Hinata's head hit the stone, causing her world to go black.

Gaara looked once at her closed eyes, then up at the men, rage consuming him.

"Guess we have no choice but to... what the-" the sentry wondered aloud before the sand covered his mouth.

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**Hope you enjoyed!! Please review**


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